Rosebud What's The Big Secret

Citizen Kane is perhaps the most well known film in American cinematic history. This is certainly due in part to the controversy caused by the similarities between Charles Foster Kane in the film and William Randolph Hurst in the real world, and the notoriety that followed Orson Welles from his radio career. The reputation of the film also concerns the film itself and the infamous Rosebud, as even those who have not heard of Orson Welles know about Citizen Kane and the mystery of Rosebud. Many people consider the revelation of Rosebud to be a surprise ending, but a close inspection of Citizen Kane shows that there are hints throughout the film about the identity of Rosebud. This essay is not meant to detract from Orson Welles’ status as an auteur or his genius as a filmmaker; it is meant, rather, to show just how much of a creative genius he was and how most audiences do not pay attention to the subtleties placed in films by those who make them.






Orson Welles gives low-key clues to what Rosebud is in the dialogue of the characters. The man who sends the reporter, Thompson, to find out what or who Rosebud is says that Rosebud “will probably turn out to be a very simple thing.” A sled is simple. Likewise, at the end of Citizen Kane, Thompson says that Rosebud is something Kane “lost” or “couldn’t get.” As the audience later finds out, Rosebud is something that Kane lost. The sled also symbolizes a time and innocence that he could not get back. The viewer is also given a clue from Kane himself. When Kane meets Susan Alexander, he tells her that he was “in search of my youth” at a warehouse where his mother’s things are being stored; and that he was planning “a sentimental journey.” These three hints inform the attentive viewer what to look for. If one takes Kane’s words, he knows what point in the film to look: the Thatcher sequence. The man’s comment, “a very simple thing” taken with Thompson’s comment “something he lost” and the answer to the mystery of Rosebud becomes apparent, Kane’s sled. The sled is both simple and something that Kane lost in his youth. It is presumably included in Kane’s mother’s effects at the warehouse, where Kane planned to go to find his youth, the only time that Kane is seen with the sled.








Welles’ clues do not end with dialogue; he also uses several visual elements. During the Thatcher sequence, the viewer sees Charles Foster Kane as a boy playing outside. Kane is shown mainly through a window as he plays happily in the snow with the sled in the background. It is one of the few times that the character of Kane is seen being happy. It also ties into Kane’s words to Susan about searching for his youth. When the viewer sees Kane as a youth he is happy and with Rosebud. Therefore the sled represents youth and innocence to the older and corrupted Kane, who cannot retrieve his youth or innocence. Welles reinforces this idea in the party scene when Kane is shown in the reflection of a window as he frolics with the dancing girls. The snow globe is another visual element that Orson Welles used to hint at the identity of Rosebud. The viewer is shown twice that the snow globe reminds Kane of Rosebud. The first time is at the beginning of the film and the second time is near the end of the film when Kane discovers the snow globe. The only other time that snow is shown in the film is in the Thatcher sequence during Kane’s childhood. This is another clue that Rosebud is something from Kane’s youth.






If one carefully views this section of the Thatcher sequence, the identity of Rosebud becomes clear. There are few prominent figures in this section of the Thatcher sequence: Kane, his parents, Thatcher, the house, and the sled. Kane is automatically eliminated because he is obviously not Rosebud. Kane’s mother seems cold and uncaring; therefore, she is not a likely candidate for Rosebud. Kane’s father appears to be the only one concerned with Kane, but it is not likely that Kane would call his father Rosebud. Thatcher also is not a likely candidate for Rosebud because as the viewer later sees in the film, Thatcher is not someone that Kane could have been close to, as Thatcher seems to be cold and uncaring towards Kane. When Thatcher asked Kane what he wanted to be, Kane replied, “Everything you hate.” This shows that Thatcher did not allow Kane to become the type of man he wanted to be, but turned him into the type of man Thatcher wanted him to be. The only choices left are the house and the sled. The house can be crossed off of the list because Kane is shown outside. Therefore, it can be deduced that Kane had no fondness for the house because the viewer sees him outside. By this process of elimination, the viewer must come to the conclusion that Rosebud must be outside with Kane. Since Kane has been eliminated, the only remaining figure is the sled. Therefore, it must be Rosebud. Welles also shows the audience Rosebud in plain view at the end of the section analyzed above. In the closing shot, the sled is prominently displayed in the frame as snow falls on it, much like an object in a snow globe. This shot stays on screen much longer than is necessary to close the sequence. One can assume that by framing the sled in such a way and by staying with it for so long, Welles is attempting to inform the viewer that there is something important about the sled. As one can see, if the film Citizen Kane is viewed closely and the clues are observed and followed, Rosebud becomes not so much of a mystery, but a treasure hunt to find the jewels left by the filmmaker. The fact that Welles placed so many hints in the film and no one discovers the identity of Rosebud is a testament to Orson Welles’ creative genius as a filmmaker that he could hide in plain sight the big secret that his entire film is centered on. It is also thought provoking that it took over half a century for a filmmaker to copy this technique as M. Knight Shyamalan did in The 6th Sense.